“This victory is definitely one of the highlights in my career,” Kagiso Rabada, who was instrumental in the Pindi victory drive with a career-best 71, stated at the press conference held after the event. “Winning a Test match in the subcontinent outside of Bangladesh. That’s really fantastic, in my opinion. It undoubtedly boosts the boys’ confidence. The crew is also quite youthful, and they want to go out and do the grunt job.”
With the knowledge that they have made progress in playing on the subcontinent, South Africa’s Test team is departing Pakistan with a share of the spoils. Their victory in the Rawalpindi Test was their third in four Asian games. A year ago, they defeated Bangladesh 2-0 in a series that many players have called the pivotal moment in their 2023–2025 WTC campaign.
Prior to the series, South Africa had lost 10 of 11 Test matches on the subcontinent during ten tours, including to Pakistan (2021), Sri Lanka (2018), and India (2015). Now that they have defeated one of those opponents, they feel they have figured out a means to do it more frequently.
With Wiaan Mulder and Marco Jansen each bowling 25 overs and the spinners doing the majority of the work, Rabada had the role of virtually lone seamer during the two Test matches. He left his imprint with his first Test half-century. In contrast to the slow-scoring pace of play, his performance of 71 off 61 balls, which was a part of a tenth-wicket stand of 98 with Senuran Muthusamy, deflated Pakistan. After a deal with David Bedingham, Rabada also received a new bat.
“We have a thing where if I score 30 runs, he’ll give me a bat because we are sponsored by the same batting company,” Rabada explained. “He claimed that following my performance in the opening Test, he believed his money was secure. Thus, that was only one method of sneaking up on him.
Rabada delivered a string of forceful ground strokes, including a six off Shaheen Shah Afridi, after a couple in Lahore. Rabada claimed that under difficult situations, it was always part of South Africa’s strategy, but no other batter displayed such courage.
“We wanted to be aggressive in the way that we played, because if you just sit around waiting for a bad ball, you’re probably going to get a good ball that gets you out,” he explained. “It was important that the batting unit could establish the shots that they wanted to play to put the opposition under pressure and that they start putting fielders back and then you can start rotating the strike.”
Rabada was unconcerned that his bowling was not as good as it could have been, even though he had some great periods in which he repeatedly failed to draw Abdullah Shafique’s edge. “If you’re a fast bowler and nothing is happening for you, you should keep the game quiet, take a wicket or two here and there, and put pressure on the game by lowering the pace. “You have to run and give it your all,” he remarked. “The spinners might still be put under pressure to do their duties considerably more effectively. If we are leaking everywhere and may not be bowling correctly, it doesn’t help. Although I didn’t receive many prizes, I was more than content to perform the work that I performed.
Rabada described Keshav Maharaj, Simon Harmer, and Senuran Muthusamy as a “world-class” spin trio.
“You saw how well our talented spinners performed when we brought them here. “That tick was really huge,” Rabada remarked. And the batters, too. Rickleton took his place. There was pressure on him going into this Test series. Under pressure going into this Test series, Stubbs made a pivotal knock. Tony (de Zorzi) was under pressure when he joined this series.
In the WTC final, Rickelton scored 16 and 6, and in 11 white-ball internationals in August and September, he only managed one half-century. De Zorzi lost his Test berth to Rickelton and is attempting to regain it, while Stubbs had only reached double figures once in nine innings prior to his first-innings 76. He scored a century, the only hitter to do so in the series.
Since their 2-0 loss to a makeshift team in New Zealand last February, South Africa has won 10 of their last 12 Test matches and is yet to lose a series. “You have to be doing a lot of things right to get results like that,” Rabada explained. South Africa will also believe that they did.
India
